I’ve learned many, many things from a week-long tour organized by a think tank called the Ecologic Institute and dedicated to German green building and sustainable strategies. For one, as the week in Germany has turned into two, I’ve learned...

This question seems to be coming up more and more frequently these days — especially since, inspired by DOE's new Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative , the federal government has endeavored to achieve net zero energy on all its buildings...

If you're in the health care industry, you're probably familiar with the term "evidence-based design." If you're not (in the health care industry or familiar with the term), it refers to studying how facility strategies, like centralized...

I wrote the following as part of an e-newsletter called the Green Building Alert, which came out yesterday. The feedback has been terrific - stories about buildings that outperformed projections, conspiracy theories about USGBC's evil ways, and solid...

The LEED Accredited Professional system continues to evolve. First, when LEED 2009 was introduced earlier this year, the new organization called the Green Building Certification Institute (which handles certification for both people and buildings) announced...

The blogosphere has been atwitter the last few weeks after consulting firm McKinsey & Company released a 165-page report (if anyone reads the whole thing, please let me know - I owe you a beer!) citing a potential savings to the U.S. economy of $1...

Any fans of The Daily Show out there? Last week, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was Jon Stewart's guest to talk about the Waxman-Markey bill that just passed in the House, as well as other energy-related topics. One of those - which you almost NEVER...

In case you missed it, late Friday afternoon, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454) passed the House by a narrow vote of 219-212. The so-called climate bill - because it establishes a national cap and trade system - will now go to the Senate...

This may almost sound too good to be true: You do an energy efficiency project (a large-scale lighting upgrade, for instance), measure and verify the savings, and then in addition to the financial benefit of buying less energy, you could also SELL a certificate...

Want to go green, but can't seem to get upper management's support? Here's a tip: Enlist the help of your occupants. Oftentimes, bottom-up pressure can be just as effective as top-down mandates in terms of instituting effective, efficient...

At the first annual Corporate Sustainability Summit in Austin, Texas last week, much of the conversation and many of the seminars centered around overcoming hurdles to sustainability. At one point during the conference put on by The Center for Corporate...

When you're working with an architect on a new construction project, what is the relationship like? Is it collaborative? Do you meet regularly to exchange information and allow the architects to ask questions? Or is it one meeting and then you let...

Most real estate experts agree: The biggest and longest-standing hindrance to creating green tenant space and truly green and energy efficient speculative office buildings is the idea that Amory Lovins (noted energy expert and founder of the Rocky Mountain...

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of touring the Great River Energy corporate headquarters facility in Maple Grove, Minn. The 166,000-square-foot facility, LEED-certified at the Platinum level, is absolutely stunning - a paragon of sustainable design...

As another NFMT wraps up, here's the show from my point of view, condensed into 10 thoughts (of varying significance): 10. The #1 cause of death of migratory birds is flying into lit building windows at night. This fact was offered as a good argument...

A very prevalent theme among attendees at this year's NFMT so far has been what to do if plans to go green, especially to pursue LEED for Existing Buildings certification, are curtailed by a sudden budget cut due to the poor economy. More than a few...

In the best of times, many would agree that for organizations with limited capital budgets and an interest in energy efficiency, an energy performance contract is a fundamentally sound idea. In researching an article for the April issue of Building Operating...

You've no doubt heard the expressions, usually with negative connotations, that there are "too many cooks in the kitchen" or "too many chiefs and not enough indians." The idea is that, sometimes, egalitarianism only leads to time...

This fantastic article from the Jan. 12 issue of the New Yorker tells the story of Van Jones, an activist who is trying to answer that question with a resounding "NO!" Jones, who is also mentioned in Thomas Friedman's new book titled Hot...

Time’s Best Inventions of 2008 – its annual list of all that’s new and cool – includes several facility-related entries. Two actual buildings made the list as inventions in and of themselves. First, the $700 million Dynamic Tower...

Data centers are expensive. Not only are they energy hogs, but they’re a serious drain on real estate budgets as well. For that reason, many companies have begun moving data centers offshore to cut costs. Google also has a plan for offshoring its...

Recently, at a manufacturer’s media event, I learned about an emerging technology called CFAIRS (pronounced “sea-fairs,” it stands for combined face and iris recognition) that can scan irises of people anywhere in a room without them...

While the stories themselves may not exactly be what you’d call “good news,” the timing of the stories may wind up as a nice touch of serendipity. That’s because they both hit the wire at almost exactly the same time – which...

You may not have thought of it as such, but email is inherently a green technology – it saves a lot of paper (well, assuming you don't print your e-mails, a practice against which you're being increasingly warned by clever little taglines...

First, the facts: A r eport released this week by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated that carbon dioxide emissions released from fossil fuels increased 1.6 percent from 5,888 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MMTCO2) in 2006 to...